"It was definitely a wake-up call," Brown said. "I wasn't even thinking about it until I talked to Charlie. I was like, 'You know what, that's not my style of play.' I rely on everything about my speed and going about my business the right way. Not hustling and not running balls out, that's just not Domonic Brown. It was just frustration."
Some of Brown's teammates and even his father reminded him about the proper way to play the game.
"I'm not mentioning no names, but a couple guys got on me, which is good," Brown said. "I was wrong. My dad got on me. He said, 'You need to run the ball out and I'm not going to say anything else.' He got on me pretty tough about it."
Brown sat and watched Sunday's win over Oakland, then came to work a little earlier than usual Tuesday, hoping to get a long pregame look at Boston starter Josh Beckett. A rookie lesson had been learned and the benefit may have come in the second inning of the Phillies' 5-0 series-opening win over the Boston Red Sox at Citizens Bank Park.
With Shane Victorino at first base and two outs, Brown worked the count to 2-2. Beckett left a fastball up and over the plate and Brown crushed the ball into the Phillies' bullpen in center field for a two-run home run that provided the untouchable Cliff Lee with all the runs he'd need in his complete-game victory. Three innings later, Brown went with a ball to left field for a leadoff double and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Lee.
Manuel was asked if he liked the way Brown responded to their conversation about his failure to run out the grounder.
"I like the way he responded tonight," Manuel said.
Brown has spawned quite a few debates about whether he can play in his brief time in the big leagues, but Manuel and general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. are committed to giving him a long look as their rightfielder before pulling the plug.
